Condenser



R. N. EHRHART.

CONDENSER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV-21,1917.

1,372,409. I Patented Mar. '22, 1921.

INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS.

, UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

RAYMOND N. EHRHABT, or :enenwoon PARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR 'ro WESTING- HOUSE ELECTRIC & mANUrAcrUnINGcQ, A CORPORATION or PENNSYLVANIA.

CONDENSER.

Specification of Letters Iatent. j Patented Mar; 22 1921;

Application filed November 21, 1917. Serial No. 203,262.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RAYMOND N. EHR- Henna citizen of the United States, and a resident of Edgewood Park,in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have made a new and useful Invention in Condensers, of which the following is a specification.

This inventionrelates to condensers and has for an object to produce a jet condenser.

1, denser which may easily and cheaply be converted into a surfacecondenser with practicallyno changes. in. the condenser shell originally provided. j f

These and other objects are attained by means of condenser embodying the: features of my invention herein described and illustrated in the drawings accompanying and forming a part hereof.

Under certain conditions and in certain localities it is desirable to employ surface condensers in preference to jet condensers. Surface. condensers ordinarily require a large number of brass tubes, or tubes of some similarly noncorrosive metal. At

times the price-of metal suitable for tubing rises so high thatthe cost of constructing a surface condenser becomes practically prohibitive- It may therefore be desirable to install the condenser as a jet condenser and to later change overto a surface condenser when thepriceof tubingdrops. Furthen more,,a change of water cond1t1ons may make it desirableto change from ionetype of.

condenser to another at some time in the future. My invention contemplates a condenser which maybe changed fromcne type to the other in accordance with the varying conditions encountered. For example, if the condenser is installed while the price of tubing is high, it can be arranged as ,a jet condenser and can later be changed to. a surface condenser, when the price of tubing drops, with but comparatively fewchanges in the shell structure of the condenser. In the drawings Figure 1 isa diagrammatic sectional View of a surface condenser which maybe changed in accordance with my lnvention into a et condenser.

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic sectional view of. the condenser illustrated in Fig. 1 changed into a jet condenser in accordance with my invention. n

Fig. 3 is a sectional view along the line 3--3 of Fig. 2. j

The condenser illustrated in Fig.1 includes a horizontal cylindrical shell .5, having a steam inlet port 6 at its top, and provided at one end with water. boxes 7 and .8. constituting a double water box, and at the other end with a water box 9. As shown, the shell 5 is traversed longitudinally by tubes 10, the ends of which are mounted in tube plates 11 and 12 and through which the water is circulated. The tube plates 11 and 12 are illustrated as secured inplace be tween the ends of the shell 5 and the water boxes 7, 8 and 9. j I

The water boxes 7 and 8 each occupy onehalf of one end of the condenser and are separated from each other by apartition 13.

The water box 9 occupies the whole of the other end of the condenser. In operation cooling water is deliveredto the water box 7 through a port 14, flows through thelower;

tubes 10 into the Water box 9, back through the upper tubes 10 into the water box 8, and

out through a ort 15. A port 16 is provided in the en wall of the water box 9 for.

a purposehereinafter to be described.

If the cost of tubing is prohibitive at the time the condenser isbuilt, and it is desirable to install the condenser as. a jet con denser, the tubes 10 are omitted and the tube plates 11 and 12 are preferably omitted. As shown in Fig. 2,.end plates 17 and 18 are substituted for the tube plates11 and 12.

In place of the cooling tubes 10, I have shown two relatively large conduits 19 and 20 which extend longitudinally through the interior of the shell 5 from the end plate 17. These conduits are in open communication with the water box 7 to which coolingwater may be supplied throughfthe port 14. On each of the conduits 119 and 20, I have shown a double row of nozzles 21, which are adapted to spraythe cooling water into the condenser shell 5in a finely divided form. t The steam entering thefshellffi through the port 6 is condensed. by direct contact with this water spray.

' remove the end plates 17 and 18, the con-' duits 19 and 20, andtheaprons 22, and to On the sides of the conduits 19 and 20, I have shown aprons 22, which form beneath them air pockets, where the air which leaks or is carried into the condenser collects. The aprons form a combining cone between the conduits 19 and 20, and between each conduit and theshell 5. Air otltake ports 23 are provided in the end plates 18 below the aprons 22, and through them the air is withdrawn as it collects underneath the aprons.

The en'd plate" 18 is shown as having an opening-18 atits bottom so that the cooling water and condensate which collects in the bottom of the'shell5- may flow into the water box 9and'be withdrawn through the'port 16 by a suitable pump 24.

In order to convert the condenser into a surface condenser, it is only necessary to insertinstead the tube plates 11 and 12 and the tubing. 10. I It will, of course, be understood that the p'ort 16 will be closed with a suitable' fiange and the port 15 connected with a suitable discharge pipe. When ar ranged as a surface condenser the condenis sate may be withdrawn, from the condenser through a centrally located condensate port 25. It will also be apparent that this port maybe made large enough to be employed in place of'the-port 16 when the condenser is arranged as a jet condenser; In this case the -port'16 may be omitted.

The condenser illustrated forms either an efficient jet or surface condenser, and when acting as a jet condenser the arrangement is such that the condenser embodies the distinguishing features of well known forms of jet condensers and therefore is capable of the same high efliciency. When the cost of brass or the water conditions varyso that a surface type of condenser is preferable in this installation, the jet apparatus may be easily removed and, the proper tubing inserted. c

While-I have described and illustrated but -.one embodiment of my invention, it will be plate closing one end of said shell and having conduits extending therefrom into the shell, meansfor delivering cooling water to the conduits, nozzles in the conduits for spraying the water into the shell, means forming combining cones and air pockets therein,.and means for withdrawing the condensate and cooling water from the shell.

2. In a convertible condenserythe combination of a condenser shell, a double water box element, one compartment of which is provided with an inlet port and the other of which is provided with an outlet port, a plate adapted to close communication between the interior of the shell and the compartment having the outlet port, and a jet vided with an inlet port and the other of which is provided with an outlet port, a jet condenser nozzle extending within the shell and in communication with the compartment having the inlet port, and means for closing communication between the shell and the compartment having the outlet port.

4. In a convertible condenser, the combination of a condenser shell, a double water box element, one compartment of which is provided with an inlet port and the other of which is provided with an outlet port, and a jet condenser nozzle extending within the shell and in communication with the compartment having the inlet port.

5. A condenser comprising a shell, an end plate closing one end of said shell and having conduits extending therefrom into the shell, means for delivering cooling water to the conduits, nozzles in the conduits for spraying the water into the shell, means forming combining cones and air pockets therein, and means for withdrawing the air from the said pockets.

6. A condenser comprising a shell provided with a pair of jet nozzles spaced apart and spaced from the side of the shell, and aprons disposed with relation to the nozzles so as to form a combining cone between the nozzles and between each nozzle and the adjacent side of the shell, through which cooling liquid fiom the nozzles may pass.

7. A condenser comprising a substantially horizontal shell having end plates, a substantially horizontal jet nozzle disposed within the shell between the end plates, means for supplying cooling liquid to the said nozzle, an apron extending between the said end plates cooperating with the nozzle and forming an air pocket, and means whereby air may be withdrawn from the said pocket.

8. A condenser comprising a substantially horizontal shell, means for delivering water spray to the interior of the shell, baflles extending. longitudinally of the shell and forming therein a combining passage converging toward the bottom of the shell and forming air pockets within the shell, means for withdrawing noncondensable fluid from said air pockets, and means for withdrawing water from the interior of the shell.

9. A convertible condenser comprising a shell adapted to receive either surface or jet condensing elements, a double Water box element for one end of the shell having inlet and outlet compartments, a water box element for the other end of the shell having water outlet means adapted for the attachment of a pump, and a jet condenser unit comprising end lates and a nozzle adapted to be assembled in relation to said shell, one

end plate closing communication between the shell and-the outlet compartment and affording communication between the inlet compartment of said double water box element and the other plate having an openin 16 subscribed my name this 19th day of No- 20 vember, 1917.

RAYMOND N. EHRHART. Witness:

C. W. McGmm.

Correction in Letters Patent No. 1,372,409

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 1,372,409, granted March 22, 1921, upon the application of Raymond N. Ehrhart, for an improvement in Condensers, an error appears requiring correction as follows: In the grant and in the heading to the printed specification the residence of the patentee is erroneously given as Edgewood Park, New Jersey, whereas said residence should have been given as Edgewood Park, Pennsylvania; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Ofiice.

Signed and sealed this 3d day of May, A. D., 1921.

[SEAL] T. E. ROBERTSON,

Uonmm'ssiomr of Patents. Cl. 26 1-1 1 8. i 

